Feeding mechanism



L. F, LAMPLOUGH July 10, 1928.

FEEDING MECHANISM oiginal Filed July 51, 1923 5 SheetsfSheet 2 @F1-.anywayz 1 y .lilly 1o, 1928.

l L'. F. LAMPLOUGH FEEDING MECHANISM original Filed July 31, 1912s 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 @Ven-[67;

pan.

Patented July i6, 1928.

intatti Uhll'lllr STATES FATENT. OFFEQE.-

LESLIE FAWCETT LAMPLOGH, OF CHICAGO, ELLINOIS, ASSIGNORTO WESTERN ELEC- TRIC COMPANY, INCORPORATED, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION' 0F YORK.

Pennine Mechanism. i

Application filed July 3l, 1923, Serial No. 654,962. Renewed AFebruary 21, 1928.

This invention relates to feeding mechanisml` and more particularly to a mechanism for feedingw a strand into a container.

In the manufacture ot rubber coveied wire, Where a. coiefof Wire is coated withA a rubber compound Which is later to be vulcanized, it is necessary iii the stage before vulcanization to preserve the comparatively plastic coatinit; 'trom distortion, Which Would deleteriously aii'ecrt its insulating power. This may be accomplished by coiliiig the coated strand iii supeiiinliosed layers, each convolution of which lits smoothly against the adjacent ones, and surrounding` and supporting it with powdered soapstoiie to prevent deformation of the coating ,and adhesion of adjacent turns.

An object of the present invention termittently deposit able receiver.

Another object is to operate a device for depositing a substance into a reciprocating receiver by the reciprocating action of the receiver.

An apparat-iis made in accordance With the invention may comprise a rotatable storage pan mounted upon a movable carriage Which is operated reciprocally at a predetermined speed, and a hopper mounted above the pan and operating` With the Acarriage to intermittently discharge powdered soapstone into the is to ina substance into a mov- These and other features of the invention not specifically mentioned will'appear from' driving mechanism and associated parts.

4Referring to the drawings inr detail, a base plate 10, Which may bc of cast metal, has parallel ridges 11 on its upper surface running longitudinallyv thereof to form a track for a carriage shown generally at l2, which moves recipi'ocally thereon during the operation of the v machine. At either end ot this base plate are. atlixed uprights'll and 16 respectivelv While a third u )richt 18 cairiesa ca stan 38 which receives the Wire 13 ironia cov- I erii'igiv machine (not shown) and reeds it into the coiling machine. A drive shaft 2O is .carried by bearingsin upright 16 and 18 and may be operated by driven pulley 22 keyed to this shaft and rotatedby a belt-24; Which may be coiinectedto vany suitableisouree of poiver (not shown) to 'furnish a variable speed drive therefor. -Oii one end of the drive shaft is aliixed a bevel gear 26, Which7 acting; in conjunction With another bevel gear 27. serves to drive a Yvertical shaft28, and this in turn through `another pair oi bevel gears 30 and and a pinion Stand ai-ack `gear 36, serves to rotate the capstan 38. x

Also carried by the drive shaft() fa' bei1 as to that of t-he'first may be varied by moving; the handle 46 connected to a sliding ryoke i8 to changethe position of the belt 441i.

The second conical member has integral therewith abevel gearvO, which, cooperatingwith a bevel gear 52, drives a shaft 54 supported*between uprightsf lfl and- 16. A

Keyed to this shaft is aWheel 56, upon the hub of Which is a'hixed a sprocket Wheel 58. The periphery ot the Wheel 56' carries a-tire 23, which mayv be of rubbenas doesy also.v a '4 secoiidWl'ie-el 60'intcgralivith a bushing 62 which rides loosely upon the shaft 54 so as to befable to rotate independently thereof. lhisbushinp isinachined on one side of the Wheel 60 to'ioi'ii'i ya reversible vscrewgthread 64,r andannular plates 66", lbearing against the ends of the threaded `part of the Abushing 62, form a 'thrust bearingtherefor,'causing theoarriage to be movedwith theloushiiig. A post 8a, atlixed to the bed ot the machine, carries in its upper end a dop; 86 which iits into the reversiblethread of the bushing and is reversed as it reaches either end of. the thread in 'a Well-known manner. From the sprocket 58 a drive chain 19 encircles a secn ond sprocket on shaft 68', Which is carriedv by bear' gs in uprights 14E and 16 and hasiiitegral with it two `drive clutch members l570, the purpose o't Which Will be made clear later.

.To consider the carriage l2 in detail, a

support having two end frames 72, each of which is supported on two wheels 74, carries a rotatable disk 76 which is mounted on a ball bearing pivot'78 and rests on the two wheels 56 and 60. A pan 80, which has a circular wall 62 about its center t0 aid in properly seating wire during the operation of the machine, rests on this table and is held in position by a central tubular portion "i7 of the pan 80 which tits over the. post 21 integral with the platform 76. v

Extending from the rear of the carriage is an arm 90 which carries a hopper 92 in which powdered soapstone may be placed and in. which a brush 94 is rotatably mounted over a slot 96 in the bot-tom of the hopper. A friction drive wheel 98 is rotatably mounted on the lower end of an arm 97, pivoted at 93, the upper end of this arm being held between a screw 89 and a spring 85. A pulley 81, integral with wheel 98, carries a belt 77, which, operating around idlers '.73 and pulley 69, transmits the motion of wheel 98 to the shaft of the brush 94. The idlers 73 are mounted on either side of a pivoted weight 65.which acts to keep the belt 77 taut at all times. It will be noted that the pulley 69 is fixed upon an arm from post 90, while the hopper is pivotally mounted upon a sleeve 61 which fits over a post 57 integral with arm 90. A pin 51 set in post 57 and riding in a slot 47 inthe sleeve 61, serves to limit the rotation of the sleeve, whilea locking pin 41, being forced inwardly by spring 37. tits into a depression in post 57, when the hopper is in position for operation, to lock the sleeve in place.V In order to permit the hopper to swing onv its pivot, the shaft of the pulley 69 is splined at one end and a projection from the brush shaft Vlits into it-as shown at 33, t-hus permittingthe separation of these parts when the hopper Vis swung away from the pan, and their union when it i-s swung` back. y The'operation of the machine is as follows:

A strand of coated wire is brought from a coating machine (not shown), is given a few turns around the capstan 38 and its en-d is laid in the pan 80, the bottom of which is covered with powdered soapstone to form a seating for the first layer of wire. The earriage 12 should be at either the outer or the inner limit of its movement when starting an operation so as to makethe first layer of wirev extend clearr across the bottom of the pan. The machine is then ready to be operated by start-ing the mechanism which operates the'drive pulley 22. This causes the capstan 38 to revolve and feedwire into the pan, and also, acting through the variable speed drivecones 40 and 42 and bevel gears 50 and 52, causes the pan 8O to be rotated by causing the rotation of the wheel 56. Table 76 resting on the other wheel 6() causes this wheel to rotatealso, which, being integral with the bushing 62 carrying the screw thread 64, cau-ses the carriage to roll back and forth on the vbase 10 in the manner previously described.

Wheel 56 remains in the same vposition on the shaft 54 at all times, but wheel 60 moves laterally with the carriage, and it will be noted that' when the carriage is at the righthand limit of its travel, the wheel 56 is acting near the periphery of the table, while ,at the other limit of its travel the reverse is true. The peripheral .speed of wheel 56 is regulated by means of the variable speed cones 40 and 42 so as to be the same as the .speed of the coated wire as it leaves the cap stan, and a change of the speed of the drive wheel 56 necessarily changes the rate of ro-m tation of the driven wheel 60 and its asso-` ciated screw 64.

- The wheel 60 being driven by the table will be rotated slowly when wheel 56 is near the periphery of the table, and rapidly when v it is near it-s center, since the table is then lbeingswiftly rot-ated by wheel 56. The result is clear that when the wire is feeding into the pan near its periphery, the pan is operating at a proper speed to receive it and is slowly moved laterally by the action off the dog 86 in the screw thread 64, since the turns are large here and require a comparatively large amount of wire7 while when the wire is feeding into the pan near `its center, u 1t 1s still rotating" at the proper speed to re` ceive the wire, but has a faster lateral. movement which is necessary, since here the turns are small and require a comparatively small amount of wire per turn.

When the carriage reaches either its outer or its inner limit, the wheel 98 rides up on one of the rotating driving members 70, being held in contact therewith by the spring 85, and, acting through the *pulley 81 and y the belt 77, causes brush 94 to rotate and deposit .a quantity of powdered soapstone into the rotating pan, forming a layer of soapstone .over each layer of wire as it is completed-` As soon as the advance of the carriage moves the'wheel 98 oli the driving member vrate of speed.

What is claimed is: n 1. In a machine for handling strand Imaterial having a receptacle for receiving the strand material, a. rotaryl support for the receptacle, a chamber for other material, and meansfor controlling the discharge of the material from said chamber to said receiving receptacle comprising a control element, the combinationtherewith of a reciprocating member associated with said receiving receptacle, and means operatedby said member for operating said control element.

2. In a machine for handling strand material having a receptacle for receivingthe strand material, a rotary support for the receptacle, a chamber for other material, and means for controlling the discharge 0i' the material from said chamber to said receiving receptacle comprising a control element, the combination therewith of a reciprocating member associated with said receiving receptacle, and means operated intermittently by said member foi-'operating said control element.

3. In a machine for handling strand material having a receptacle for receiving the strand material, a rotary support for the receptacle, a chamber for other material, and means for controlling the discharge of the material from said chamber to said receiving receptacle comprising a control element, the combination therewith of a member associated with said receiving receptacle for causing its reciprocation upon its rotation, and means operated intermittently due to the reciprocation of said member for operating said element to discharge material lfrom said chamber upon the strand stored in said receptacle.

4. In a machine for handling strand material having a receptacle for receiving the strand material, a rotary support for the receptacle, a chamber for other material, and i means for controlling the discharge of the material from said chamber to said receiving receptacle comprising a control element, the combination therewith of a reciprocating member associated with said receiving receptacle, and a friction driving means controlled by the reciprocal movement of the receptacle for intermittently actuating said control elementl 5. In a machine for handling strand material having a receptacle for receivingthe strand material, a rotary support for the receptacle, a chamber for other material and means for controlling the dicharg-e of the material 'from said chamber to said receiving receptacle comprising a rotatable brush mounted within the chamber, the combination therewith of a reciprocating member associated with said receptacle, and means controlled by the reciprocating member to intermittently rotate the brush to deposit a layer of the material from the chamber upon the strand stored in vthe receptacle.

6. In a machine for handling strand material having a receptacle for receiving the strand material, a rotary support for the receptacle, a chamber forv other material and means for controlling the discharge of the material from said chamber to said receiving receptacle comprising a rotatable brush mounted Within the chamber, .the combination therewith' of a reciprocating member associated with said receptacle, and means controlled by the reciprocating member to provide an intermittent driving connection between the driving mechanism of the receptacle and the brush.

7. vIn a machine for handling strand material having a receptacle for receiving the strand material, a rotary support for the receptacle, a chamber for other material and means for controlling the discharge of the material from said chamber to said receiving receptacle comprising a rotatable brush mounted within the chamber, the combina* tion therewith of a reciprocating member associated with said receptacle, means controlled by the reciprocating member to intermittently rotate said brush, and means for regulating the time in which the brush will be operated and released by its operating means.

8. In a machine for handling strand material having a receptacle for receivingthe strand material, a rotary support for the receptacle, a chamber for other material and means for controlling the discharge of the material from said chamber to said receiving receptacle comprising a control element, the combination therewith of a rotatable member, two elements fiXed to said member and spaced apart, and means movable with the receptacle engaging said fixed elements andv driven thereby for operatingsaid discharge controlling element.

In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this 23 day of July A. D., 1923.

LESLIE FAwcETT LAMPLOUGH. 

